


I've Got You, Under My Skin

by Ghostmonkey



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Possession
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-08-08 17:02:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7766020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghostmonkey/pseuds/Ghostmonkey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some young upstart decides he wants to rule the streets of New York.</p><p>He soon realizes that possession is not only nine tenths of the law, but also a feasible way to let him and his (not so alive) gang move freely around the city.</p><p>Or the one where the gang just can't catch a break with being possessed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I've Got You, Under My Skin

**Author's Note:**

> There was a small angsty Holtzbert scenario that just would not leave my head.  
> It then snowballed and turned into this.

_Drip_

 

_Drip_

 

It was the only sound loud enough that could be heard over her shaking breath. She didn’t know how long she had been there now. She just wanted out.

Her wrists were aching. Rubbed raw against the rope that held her. It wouldn’t budge.

  
She was beginning to think she had imagined it. His face.

There’s no way it could have been him. He wouldn’t do that. No, never. They loved each other.

 

It must have been a trick. Yes. A trick of the light. Her Jimmy was still out there, trying everything in his power to get to her.

He would come. She would be safe. This would all be a bad dream.

 

_Drip_

 

_Drip_

 

_Click_

 

She choked on a sob as her head snapped towards the door. The lock turned and she held her breath. _Please be Jimmy._

 

“Did ya miss me?” Her heart stopped. It was him. He came for her.

 

He slowly locked the door behind him and made his way over to her.

 

The brief flash of hope started to fade quickly as the reality set in. It was her Jimmy. But it wasn’t the man she fell in love with. No. This man’s eyes were cold and as he got closer she saw them light up with a disturbing glee.

 

She let out a sob. “Why are you doing this? What happened to you?”

 

“Oh, how I missed this.” A curved knife was gently brought down one cheek as she froze in place. “We’re going to have a lot of fun.” He grabbed her chin forcefully with his free hand and ran his tongue up the opposite cheek.

 

The tears streamed down her face as she attempted to jerk back. “Jimmy. Please.”

 

He leaned in and whispered into her ear. “I’m sorry, Jimmy isn’t available right now.”

 

_Drip_

 

_Drip_

 

_Bang!_

 

* * *

 

“I made it go faster.”

 

Patty lowered the paper she was reading and glanced over to the workstation where Holtzmann was usually found. She swore the voice was coming from over there but she couldn’t see the woman in question.

 

“What was that?” Her eyes darted about the room but found no one. She let out a sigh. It wouldn’t be the first time that Holtzmann started a conversation then bailed mid sentence.

Honestly, that girl had too many thoughts running through her mind to keep her still.

 

“It goes faster now.”

  
  
Patty clutched at her chest in fright as Holtzmann’s head suddenly appeared beside her. She let out a calming breath then leveled her glare at the blonde fuzz that now obscured her vision.

 

“Girl, what did I tell you about that? Being all silent and just popping out of nowhere.” Patty grumbled as she focused back on her paper. “It’s bad enough we have ghosts doing that. Don’t need to add to the heart attack pile.”

 

Holtzmann slung an arm over Patty’s shoulder, choosing to ignore the words directed at her. “Do you wanna try it out? Dive into the breach?” She stretched out the last word and followed it up with a waggle of her eyebrows.

 

Patty glanced up again. “What are you talking about?”

 

“Our emergency evacuation route. I made it faster.” Holtzmann bounced up and walked across the room pointing to the fireman's pole. “I need someone to run some tests so I can document the success rate.”  
  
“Oh ho ho no. Nooooo way.” Patty let out a dry chuckle. “I ain’t going to be your crash test dummy today. Pick somebody else.” She adjusted in her seat uncomfortably. “I’m still smarting from that last thing you made. Why did we need seat warmers on a toilet anyway?”

 

“But Pattycakes... science!” Her pout lasted for a whole three seconds before she was distracted by the smell of food that wafted in along with Abby and Erin. And luckily so. It wasn’t often one could leave unscathed when the full force of a Holtzmann pout was directed at you. It was like walking past a basket of whimpering puppies.

“Breakfast! Yes! I’m famished”

 

“You were just eating poptarts?” Patty said as she started to clear some room on the table for the food. Today was waffle day which was a group favorite. No wonder Holtzy was excited.

 

“No, that doesn’t count. They weren’t even toasted.” Holtzmann said as she leaned in to grab the closest waffle as soon as it was free from its container. If she happened to brush against Erin more than what was necessary, that wasn’t her fault. It was just that the crunchiest looking waffle sat in front of Erin. And happened to be on her plate.

 

“Holtzmann!” Erin sounded exasperated.

 

Holtzmann took a large bite as she stared back at Erin as she sat. “What?”  
A few stray crumbs tumbled out of her mouth.

 

Erin sighed and handed her a plate. “At least use this.”

  
Holtzmann grinned as she continued to chew, throwing in a wink for good measure. “Oui, mon capitaine.”

 

It had been a relatively quiet few weeks for them. The odd case came up but most of their time was spent on finishing off the odd project lying around.

They appreciated the down time but if they were honest, they were getting a bit antsy.

It just felt too quiet.

 

Ever since the ‘Great Ghostpocalypse of 2016’ courtesy of Rowan, their lives had been non stop.  
The charging of the ley lines had boosted any previous presences and they were certain many spirits that were let out that day were not all pulled back in once the portal closed.

Not to mention the influx of people speaking out about their encounters, emboldened by the actions of the Ghostbusters and less fearful of public ridicule.

 

Who knows? Maybe this down time was a blessing. Maybe it was nature’s way of saying take a break. They did deserve it after all. Though it seemed only Patty really relished in the idea of time off. The others found it hard to grasp the concept of not working. And that meant on anything.

Holtzmann had said it made her feel naked. Whatever that meant.

 

“I don’t know why you continue to read that.” Abby said as she looked over to Patty who was still browsing through the morning paper. “It’s always the same. Murder, death and politics.”

 

“That’s not always true. Sometimes you get a new expose on the Kardashian’s” Patty let out a laugh.

 

“Who are the Kardashian’s?” Holtzmann asked. She licked the dripping syrup from her pointer finger.

 

“Are you serious?” Patty stared back as she watched Holtzmann, now syrup free, sneak a hash brown off of Erin’s plate. She didn’t bother to continue that line of questioning as the blondes attention had already wandered to the newest gadget sitting on the table which she swore wasn’t there a minute ago.

 

Abby spoke up instead as she slid the last hash brown onto Erin’s plate without breaking stride. “I think I might drop by the Harlem Courthouse today to pick up the last of the recording equipment. It’s a shame nothing turned up there. I was sure we would get something.”

 

Their last stakeout had lasted three nights without so much as a peep.

 

Patty closed the paper and focused back on the group. “I’ll go with you. I need the fresh air. Reading that paper is just giving me a headache. Apparently there was a copycat serial killer roaming about. Just got busted.” She shook her head in disgust. “What is wrong with people, man? And why are we just finding out about this now?”

 

Erin’s hand had subconsciously drifted down to her pocket to feel for the Swiss army knife still safely tucked away. She always felt a little safer knowing it was with her. Especially when she was reminded of the awful things people were capable of.

It sometimes made ghosts look like the safer option. At least they were prepared for that.

 

“Well, as long as they caught them.” Erin nodded as she pushed her hash brown around the plate with a fork. “Holtz, maybe we could-” The rest of her sentence was cut off by the piercing sound of the fire house alarm bells shortly followed by Kevin’s voice yelling upstairs.

  
“We got one!”

 

It was battle stations time.

 

* * *

 

As the Ecto-1 pulled out of the station, slight snickering could be heard from the back seat.

 

Holtzmann hadn’t yet dared to glance to the seat next to her as she knew she would find Erin staring at her with that face. The one she often got when she wasn’t pleased with something. Or in this case, someone.

 

Her fingers drummed nervously along the steering wheel before she took a sharp turn.

“Sooo…” She drew out the word, hoping the slower she spoke, the sooner someone else would cut in. Of course that might not work when two of the occupants were trying poorly to contain their laughter.

 

“Uh, was it the next left?” She knew which way it was but she was desperate for a change of focus from the silent death glare aimed in her direction.

 

“You bet your _ass_ it is.” Abby barely finished her sentence before she broke down into giggles and Patty let out an impressive snort.

 

Erin twisted to face the back as gingerly as possible. “Oh real mature. I could have been killed!”

 

Holtzmann sat up straight and bristled. “I put down crash mats.” She dared sneak a glance to her right and saw Erin’s attention was back on her. Damn. “You got down faster, didn’t you?”

 

“Who in their right mind covers a fireman’s pole with lubricant?” Erin shot back.

 

“Well that was to lessen the rate of friction build up and in turn it would-”  
  
“Nearly break my coccyx?”

 

Holtzmann shifted in her seat and lowered her voice. “I said I was sorry.”  
  
“No, you offered to kiss it better which is _not_ the same thing!” Erin stuck out a finger to emphasize her point. A manic grin spread across Holtzmann’s face and before she could say the offer still stood, Patty chose that moment to speak up.

 

“You better apologize, Holtzy. She sounds pretty butt hurt.”

 

“Heyo!” Abby said as she high-fived her.

 

The rest of the ride had been relatively quick. The call had been from a local meat packing plant. The only info they could gather from Kevin was that ‘Cows were on the rampage.’

It was getting much easier to decipher Kevin speak but with everything they had seen, it was becoming harder to distinguish if Kevin was just being Kevin or if, in this case, there were in fact demonic cows on the loose.  
This job could never be mistaken for dull, that was for sure.

 

As soon as the car pulled up, Abby and Patty ran straight for their packs in the back whereas Holtzmann made a beeline for Erin’s door.

As she reached for it, Erin had already started to push it open so she quickly grabbed the handle and pulled it the rest of the way, offering her hand to help her out of the car. She really did feel bad for what had happened.

 

Erin’s left eye twitched slightly as she stopped to stare at the waiting hand. She had considered just pushing past but she had to admit a little help up would be nice.

As she stiffly got out of the car, she made sure to avoid Holtzmann’s eyes. She wasn’t quite ready to forgive just yet and she knew looking at what she liked to call the ‘hopeful golden retriever stare’, it would just melt her resolve. No. Holtzmann needed to learn her lesson.

 

Though watching her bound away with the enthusiasm of a ten year old on their first outing to Disneyland as she grabbed Erin’s pack was really pushing her limit.

She could not smile. That would be a sign of weakness. She would not smile.

 

“My lady.” Holtzmann took an exaggerated bow as she held out the pack for Erin to slip her arms into.

 

Damn it. She cracked. She only hoped the brief flash was missed by Holtzmann as her head was bowed. As Erin turned to slip her arms in, she schooled her features again and just let out a light “Hmm.” in acceptance.

 

What she missed by doing so was Holtzmann silently pumping her arms in the air in triumph.

 

“Anytime today, ladies!” Abby shouted over to them as she and Patty were already waiting at the open entrance on the side. The front was locked tight and no one was answering.

 

“Yeah, I want to catch me some ghost cows.” Patty added, rolling her neck to loosen up.

 

“Hello?” Abby called out to the seemingly empty space. “We’re the Ghostbusters. You called about a problem?”

 

They wandered in, Holtzmann bringing up the rear, and glanced about cautiously.  
It was hard to clearly make anything out in the dark room. A single light shone in the back corner, illuminating rows of metal work bays surrounded by giant hooks hanging from the ceiling. Some of which were occupied by large slabs of meat.

The shadows they cast were unnerving to say the least. Every slight movement from one would draw their attention as if expecting a ghost to jump out. The chill from the refrigeration unit cut through their jumpsuits and did nothing to ease the growing tension.

 

“Hey guys. Who am I?” Holtzmann’s voice shattered the silence as she strolled over to one of the hanging slabs and proceeded to throw jabs at it as she hummed to the tune of Eye of the Tiger.

So maybe they weren’t all tense.

 

Patty stopped and shook her head. “That is so inappropriate.”

  
  
“Yo, Adrian.” Holtzmann raised her arms in the air until Patty came over and pulled them back down again.

 

“No, honey.”

 

“Hello?” Erin tried. As she turned up one of the aisles, something caught her attention. “Over here. Maybe these are our ‘ghost cows’.” She pointed to a few randomly strewn meat packs down the side that were sure to weigh at least two Kevin's each. “Our ghost probably thought it would be funny to throw these around.”

 

Abby brought the PKE meter and held it out as she crouched down near the meat.  “I’m not picking up anything substantial. Just some slight jumps.”

 

“Can I help you ladies?” A deep voice grumbled behind them.

 

“Damn, son.” Patty muttered to herself as she held a hand to her chest for the second time that day. Abby turned off her meter.

 

“May I ask what you are doing back here?” The women all turned to find a reasonably large man, his sleeves rolled up and sporting an apron that had multiple dark stains on it due to the nature of his job.

 

Erin moved forward slowly. “I see we’ve caught you in the middle of something.” The man let out a gruff ‘hmph’ as he embedded the cleaver he was holding into a half dissected pig on a tray to his right. Erin swallowed back a nervous chuckle. “We’re here about your call.” At the man’s blank stare she continued. “About the ghosts?”

 

The man let out a laugh. “There ain’t no ghosts here, peach.” He pulled out a lighter from his pocket and a cigarette from behind his ear, taking a long drag once lit.

 

“Excuse me,” Abby pushed to the front. “Hi. Dr. Yates.” She side glanced Erin whose brow had furrowed. “We received a call not too long ago. And unless there is someone else that works here,” She looked around but saw no one. “Then you must have been the one who called. Are you having any trouble with spectral entities of unknown origin?”

 

“Listen.” He took a few steps forward. “As I told your little friend over there, I don’t know nothin’ about no ghosts. Now if you don’t mind, I have work to do.” He pushed passed Abby and went back to his workstation.

 

“So you’re saying the mess in that corner is just attributed to the impeccable hygiene standards of your workplace?” She pointed towards the seemingly tossed carcasses on the floor.

 

If they thought the scowl on his face couldn’t get any deeper, they were wrong. “Some little bastards broke in and tossed some of the joint.” His voice started to raise. “Probably the same punks who made a prank call to you guys. Now if you don’t leave right now, I’m going to have to deal with you like I dealt with them.”

 

Erin spoke up again after swallowing a lump in her throat. A nervous smile on her lips. “You mean, call the cops. Right?”

 

“Yeah.” He smirked. “Sure.” He started to move his shoulders as if he was trying to let out some tension.

 

Holtzmann started to walk forward and move slowly around him, ignoring the motion from Erin to grab her back.

 

“I believe our friend here wants us gone.” She reached up and patted the top of his bicep which was a bit above her head.

 

Erin’s eyes flashed at Holtzmann in warning, trying to subtly give her the ‘come here’ motion with her head while the man’s attention was on the blonde next to him. “We’ll just get out of your hair. We’re sorry for the inconvenience.” She tried to make her voice as light as possible as she shuffled ever closer to Holtzmann in order to grab her hand.

 

Just a few more steps and she would be there.

 

Holtzmann was staring at the man’s bicep, which was still in her grip, with what seemed to be great concentration when all of a sudden she leaned forward and sniffed him.

 

“What in the...” Patty trailed off as she saw Erin dart forward and finally grab Holtzmann by her hand and pull back quickly.

 

Holtzmann let herself be led away as she turned back to wave at the man. “Adios.”

 

They quickly made their way back to the car and stood at the back. Relief flushed through Erin knowing they were far enough away now.

“What was that?” She turned to Holtzmann.

 

“Yeah, why did you think feeling up the angry dude was a good life choice?” Patty looked over in concern as she took off her pack to put on the rack.

 

“I felt something.” Holtzmann lowered her voice enough so the others had to lean in to hear it. “When I touched him.” She was met with raised eyebrows.

 

“Holtzy baby, is there something you want to tell us?” Patty put a hand on her arm.

 

“Well yes, that’s why I’m telling you.” Holtzmann gave a confused chuckle as she pointed at Patty. “Kids today.” She shook her head.

 

“I’m older than you.” Patty’s voice was flat.

 

“Anywho, I’m almost positive that man has come into contact with something. He made my hand tingle. Pretty sure I could smell a faint ionic trace.”

 

Abby stood tall and glanced back towards the shed. “So there was something there. He was probably just too scared to admit it.” She put her hands on her hips. “There is no way kids were involved in lifting those slabs. I doubt even that guy could do it alone.”

 

“So what do we do?” Patty asked.

 

“We can’t really do anything without his permission. It is his place.” Abby sounded disappointed.

 

Erin jumped in. “Yeah and I really rather we didn’t stay anywhere where he is. Let’s just go.” She wasn’t getting any good vibes from him.

 

Holtzmann cleared her throat. “I’m really feeling your plan and I’m eager to follow it. But I’m just going to quickly need my hand back so I can take off my pack.” Erin looked over in confusion and then quickly down to where their hands were still joined.

 

“Oh, sorry.” She didn’t realize she still had a hold of it but she could feel her cheeks start to warm.

 

“No harm, no foul. Feel free to grab onto another body part of your choosing while I finish packing this away.”

 

Erin clamped her mouth shut and packed up in silence. Sometimes she swore Holtzmann was just baiting her. “I’m still mad at you.”

 

“And we are a go.” Holtzmann pumped her arm out of the drivers window once the last door was closed.


End file.
